


Training

by Kitten_Prince314



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon
Genre: Ami/Makoto forever, F/F, Mention of doujinshi, Minako being crazy, Sailor Senshi Mischief
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-19
Updated: 2015-01-30
Packaged: 2018-03-08 05:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 17,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3197204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitten_Prince314/pseuds/Kitten_Prince314
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Being a Senshi is hard work. You know what they say...Work Hard Play Hard....</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Mars blinked. Mercury tilted her head. Jupiter rubbed the bridge of her nose. Moon watched blankly. The Outers collectively groaned. Venus stared at all of them in frustration.

“Oh come on! It’s a good idea!” She whined, stomping her heel. Uranus raised a hand in question an Venus rolled her eyes and pointed at her.

“So, I think I missed something. Can you, run this by us one more time?” She requested and the leader of the senshi sighed heavily.

“We’ve all gotten lax in our training! We don’t even put any effort into sparring anymore. And when we team up, no one even cares who wins! We need to train like we mean it! Like we all have something on the line!” Mars snorted and crossed her arms.

“Yes oh fearless leader. I think we all got that part. Where you lost us is exactly what you want us to put on the line.” She pointed out and the group nodded in unison. Venus resisted the urge to break out her whip.

“Well, what else do we all fear except for embarrassment? Especially from each other right? And what could be more embarrassing than owing one of us a dare? Or a favor? Or have you forgotten Usagi’s birthday?” A shudder rippled through the defenders of the galaxy and a serious of coughs, blushes, and rapidly shifting gazes let Venus know that everyone remembered. Probably clearer than most of them wanted to. 

Neptune cleared her throat and put a supportive hand on Uranus’s arm as her girlfriend struggled to block out memories that involved Minako, Usagi, and the words ‘make-over’ and ‘mascara‘.

“So you propose that we all put dares on the line?” Venus nodded. Finally, they were getting it.

“Yes. We all play free for all, no teams. Whoever you tag out owes you a dare. Any dare. Gives you a hell of an incentive to play for keeps doesn’t it?” A large majority of the girls didn’t look quite sold.

“How did you come up with this idea?” Pluto asked, leaning slightly on her staff. A light blush crossed the blonde’s face and she scratched the back of her head, laughing loudly.

“Oh, you know. I’m just good like that. Thought of it all on my own. Yes, no help at all.” She laughed again and Sailor Mars and Sailor Mercury shared a curious glance. Oh yeah, Venus wasn’t being suspicious at all. Out of the corner of her eye, Mars caught sight of the book-bag Minako had gleefully dropped as soon as she’d reached their training grounds. She could see the top of a manga peeking out of it and she made a face.

“Oh yeah. Thought of it on your own my ass.” With that she made for the bag and was incredibly surprised when Venus beat her too it, clutching the bag protectively to her chest.

“Leave my bag out of it!” She yelped, the fear in her eyes a telling sign. Playful violet eyes met emerald green and the two power senshi moved forward as one, sensing a weakness.

“What’s in the bag Venus?” Mars taunted stepping ever so nearer. The blonde only clutched it tighter and made a face.

“None of your business Pyro.” She bit and Jupiter chuckled from behind her, much much too close for the blonde’s comfort.

“Just give it up Venus. We’ll get it from you one way or the other.” Making a tactical decision the blonde cracked out her whip with one gloved hand, holding the bag behind her.

“My bag!” She declared and Mars felt the fire in her veins boil at the challenge. Sailor Moon, sensing that whatever was in the bag was of great value, joined in the hunt, narrowing her eye gleefully.

“Come on Venus. Don’t you trust your Princess?” Said senshi only cracked her whip as the three traitors circled her, looking for a weak point. Mercury sighed and moved closer to Neptune and Pluto, out of harms way.

“I wonder if we’ll actually get through training today?” She questioned and Neptune stifled a small giggle as she watched the antics of the inners.

“Well, it’s not a bad idea really. The fear of owing someone a dare, or the thrill of having a dare you want to inflict on someone would certainly push us to train for keeps.” Mercury nodded in agreement.

“True. I know I’ll certainly spar harder, if only to avoid Venus.“ Pluto gave her a curious look.

“Venus? “ Mercury shivered and shifted from foot to foot as Mars made a quick lunge at their leader and then jumped back lightning fast as the whip cracked.

“After that whole….night….was over, Minako told me that she still had one dare she thought would be hilarious.” The sea senshi took in the pale look on the genius’s face.

“What did she want to do to you?” She couldn’t help but ask and Mercury let out a sigh. In the background Sailor Moon lept back to avoid the glowing hearts and tripped over her own feet, landing with a whimper on her backside.

“She wanted to take me…..clubbing.” The bluenette whispered, speaking the last word as if it tasted bad in her mouth. Neptune and Pluto blinked and shared a look. Lightning crackled lightly in front of them as Jupiter and Mars both advanced.

“Clubbing?” Neptune echoed. Sure, Mercury was shy. But she said the word like it was a death sentence. The genius nodded slowly, her eyes closed against the unimaginable horrors. Pluto smiled at her and adjusted her staff as a whip cracked and Sailor Moon yelped .

“I know it’s not quite your cup of tea, but considering the fiendish plans Uranus no doubt has for Venus or Moon, why is just going clubbing so bad?” Mercury shivered and looked up at curious garnet eyes, a look of disbelief in her eyes.

“Do you have any idea where she clubs at?” The bluenette whispered, as if this explained everything. The outers shared a grin and turned back as the blonde in question was slowly backed up by her three advancing scouts.

“Yes, I suppose Venus would have some….interesting…places in mind.” Mercury whimpered aloud, a hollow look in her eyes.

“She showed me pictures of it once.” Neptune bit her lip.

“And?” 

“And I’m not sure I’d survive.” Pluto smirked.

“Just a bit melodramatic are we?” Mercury looked up at her pointedly.

“I’m not sure I’d survive intact.” Both women blinked at the word that was stressed and even Neptune had the grace to flush lightly.

“Yes, well then. I suppose your only option is to avoid her.” A soft snort came from beside her and the dejected girl kicked at the ground as she watched Venus send several crescent beams in Mar’s and Jupiter’s direction causing a flurry of yelps and curses.

“Unfortunately, the quality that makes her such a great leader is also why she’s so dangerous to challenge. Once she has her mind set on something, there is absolutely no stopping her.” Venus held the bag above her head and waved the whip wildly in front of her. Mercury shook her head and focused, trying to change the subject to something other than her impending doom.

“Anyway, I’m sure Uranus wouldn’t mind some well deserved revenge. I suppose I can pin my hopes on her getting to Venus before she gets to me.” Looking around curiously, Mercury realized they were missing someone. “Where is Uranus anyway?” She questioned and Pluto tapped her shoulder. Mercury turned and amused eyes nodded in the direction of the battle taking place across the courtyard. The water and ice senshi looked over and Neptune hid a giggle with a gloved hand as her lover crept up silently behind the distracted leader. 

Not for the first time the wind senshi’s height became an advantage and she carefully plucked the manga from the top of the bag Venus gripped, without even alerting her. Satisfied with herself, she backed up a few paces and started to flip through her prize, sending a flirtatious wink in Neptune’s direction. Mars and Jupiter, having seen Uranus’s sneak attack, suddenly stopped and stood back from their leader, arms crossed, identical smirks plastered across gleeful faces as they waited for their accomplice to share. 

Sailor Moon failed to notice however, and continued lunging for her first in command, quite unsuccessfully. Mercury watched as a flush lit up Uranus’s face the more she looked through the booklet and she sent Neptune an amused, albeit shocked facial expression, pointing at Venus and shaking her head. The oblivious blondes finally caught on to the fact that they were only ones in battle and while Moon joined her senshi, a smirk on her face, Venus watched them all with a suspicious look in her eyes.

“What?” She questioned, and three victorious, snaky grins continued to stare her down. She dared to look away from her former attackers and chanced a glance to the side where Mercury, Neptune and Pluto were also smiling in pure amusement. Her Venus senses tingling, the thought that that her world was about to go horribly wrong snuck into her brain like a ninja‘s dart. She opened her mouth but had to no chance to speak as a low whistle sounded from behind her. Her whip disintegrated as she whirled to face the tallest senshi, flipping through a familiar book.

“Wow. And I thought I was kinky.” Uranus chuckled as she tilted the book sideways and peered intently at the page in front of her. The love senshi looked quickly through her bag, flinging books and homework every which way, desperately. In the background Mercury tsked and made a mental note to copy her own homework assignments to replace them. Furious, and panicked, Venus glared back up at the woman holding the key to her own painful demise.

“Give it back.” She demanded and Uranus sent her a challenging look, flipping to another page. Eyebrows shot nearly off her head at the images and amused eyes flicked up to meet horrified blue. “Was this the favor you were intending to ask?” Shooting a terrified look in Mars’s direction, as the fiery Priestess was the most likely to bring her short life to a brutal end, she looked back and her expression turned pleading.

“Pleeease give it back!” She whimpered. Mar’s eyes squinted at the look and she took a step forward. Uranus grinned again. Oh the power! The blonde one would pay dearly for her use of mascara. DEARLY. She sent a nod in the fire senshi’s direction, fully aware of what she was about to unleash on the inner senshi leader.

“Do you think she can actually bend like that?” She asked thoughtfully and Venus felt the flames erupt from behind her. Her jaw hit the ground at the same time rational thought flew out the proverbial window and she made a lunge for the Outer. Uranus sent the cursed book through the air in Jupiter’s direction and gleefully tackled Venus to the ground, holding her prone as the brunette opened the pages to see what was going on. 

Mercury, Pluto, and Neptune watched with a mixture of curiosity and amusement as emerald eyes widened. The girl turned as red as Ami ever had and her own jaw dropped. She sent a disbelieving look in Venus’s direction as the blond writhed beneath her captor.

“That is sooo not what it looks like. I swear!!!” She shouted even as Uranus held her tighter. Mars growled lightly.

“What is it?” She demanded and Jupiter jumped a foot in the air, spun, and hid it behind her back.

“Ah…what is what?” She asked and Mars cocked her head in irritation.

“Give it.” She demanded and Jupiter backed up, one hand held in front of her in a placating motion.

“I’m…um…not sure that’s such a good idea.” She stammered. Granted, Venus had sort of brought this on herself, but it wouldn’t do if their leader was killed. Fire burst to life in front her as Mars advanced. Taking a cue from the Outers, Moon snuck up silently behind her lightning defender and snatched the controversial booklet away.

“Yoink!” She yelled gleefully and ran behind Mars to flip through her prize. Jupiter made to move toward her but the fire in front of her flared and she stepped back.

“Princess….please….” She begged but Sailor Moon was already flipping pages happily. Jupiter joined the onlookers as Mercury watched the Princess’s eager speed-flipping as it gradually slowed and the color drained from her face. Finally, she closed the book and started down at her captive Love senshi, a somber expression on her face.

“Oh, she is going to kill you.” Venus sighed, and face-planted the dirt as Mars yanked it away from her Princess to see for herself what the hell was going on. The cover was non-assuming enough. Though familiar faces stared back up at her.

“It’s a doujinshi?” She spat and Venus mumbled into the dirt. Mercury groaned and Pluto shook her head. “How could you touch one of these after….last time?” The Inners all whimpered and Jupiter bit her lip. Months ago, excited by the sudden popularity of the ‘full-set’ of scouts, the girls had happened upon an entire series of doujin, one for each Scout. Gleefully, they’d bought each one, ignoring the incredulous looks of the store keeper and had fled to the shrine to enjoy their stardom. Each page however had brought new levels of horror and in the end they’d burned every last one.

Since that fateful day, the word ‘tentacle’ had been forbidden from any conversation and every youma who had an appendage even similar in appearance had been dispatched swiftly, and with extreme prejudice. Beside her Mercury shivered and Jupiter put a comforting hand on her shoulder. The bluenette reached up and put her smaller hand on top of the brunette’s and looked up, a soft smile of thanks on her face. Jupiter let their eyes meet, let herself get lost for a few seconds in deep endless sapphire before Mercury blushed lightly and looked away, her hand dropping back to her side. 

The brunette resisted the urge to sigh. They had been getting closer these past few months, lingering looks, light blushes, extended lunches and ‘one-on-one’ study periods. She’d lost track of how many times a day they’d simply get lost in each others eyes, the rest of the world forgotten. She knew the younger girl felt for her. It wasn’t an if anymore, just a when. Ami was so damned shy. They were just taking their time, tip-toeing toward each other slowly. Very slowly Jupiter thought as she turned back to the explosion that was Mars. 

From her position beneath Uranus (obligatory jokes aside) Venus huffed, sending up a puff of dust.

“Training?” Mars read off the cover and her leader shifted in the taller girls grasp.

“Yes! See? I thought it just about training and you all were telling me that I needed to come up with some new training ideas so I thought it’d be perfect.” Mars raised an incredulous eyebrow, still refusing to open the offending item in her hands.

“And you thought you could get help from one of these?” Venus sighed again.

“They write doujin about all kinds of crazy stuff. I was just like, oh wow, a doujin on the Sailor Senshi training. Perfect! I didn’t know what it was about! I swear!” Mars looked down at the pile of blondes and then back at the pile of paper in her hands.

“And what is it about?” She asked and Venus turned red, hiding her face back in the dirt. Mercury shifted and looked to Jupiter who only shook her head.

“You don’t want to know.” She whispered, a light blush painting her cheeks as the images she’d seen floated through the forefront of her brain. The raven slowly began to turn the pages and Sailor Moon backed away from her guardian, the explosion imminent. With each page, the Miko’s face got a shade redder and even Uranus abandoned her position to take cover with Neptune. Venus could only back away slowly, a sheepish, fearful expression on her face.

“I SWEAR I didn’t know that’s what it was….” She tried and Mars slapped the pages shut near the end and fixed her leader with a fiery gaze.

“Crap….” The blonde had time to mutter as a flaming blur slammed into her and red and orange fukus rolled into the bushes. As screams and whimpers echoed from the shrubbery that the senshi had disappeared into Neptune tilted her head at her amused lover and nodded her head in the direction of the offending paperback.

“What is it about dear?” She questioned and Uranus grinned, slipping an arm around her girl.

“Well, I can see where she got this whole idea from. That’s basically what that doujin is.” Neptune arched an eyebrow ( a practiced senshi move) and smiled.

“Basically?” Uranus laughed and shrugged.

“The senshi all spar, and the winners get the losers to do something for them.” The others blinked and Mercury look up at the blush still on Jupiter’s face.

“That’s what all the fuss is over?” Jupiter sighed and shifted under the bluenette’s stare.

“What they…um…get…from them isn’t so….PG rated.” She tried to explain. And just in case Mercury, Neptune and Pluto hadn’t figured it out Uranus wiggled her eyebrows at the senshi in her arms.

“They made em’ have S…E…X.” She spelled, nuzzling Neptune’s neck playfully. Mercury flushed red and Pluto rolled her eyes. Her smart-ass comment about getting a room was cut short as the shrubbery exploded and a frazzled love senshi flew out, a human flame close on her heels.

“Oh my Kami Mars! I’m sorry!” Venus yelped as she dove behind a tree, a flame sniper buried in the bark where her head had been.

“No, not yet you aren’t!” Mars screamed, notching another arrow. The Outers collectively sighed and Mercury tried to recover from her blush.

“It was a good idea!” The tree defended as fire licked the air.

“ECCHI!!” The tree sighed.

“I didn’t mean THAT kind of favor Mars!” Sailor Moon snickered aloud suddenly and fire was pointed in her direction. The Princess squealed and dove behind her closest guardian, who just happened to be Jupiter. The brunette raised her hands in surrender.

“What’s so funny Princess?” The human shaped flame asked and the second cowering blonde swallowed and peeked out from her hiding place.

“ Just that, she was talking about having a dare for Ami earlier, and I didn’t know that she meant for the training game, and then the doujin was ecchi and then she said an ecchi favor and I was thinking, Ami’d probably faint first.” The Princess finished in a huff. As Mercury slowly turned red, the distraction worked and scouts burst out into laughter, all no doubt picturing Venus attempting to seduce Mercury, and the bluenette fainting. Jupiter tried hard not to laugh, she did, but the visual was hilarious and a snicker escaped. Mercury looked up from kicking the dirt by her boot, the expression in her eyes clearly betrayal as even her best friend, and potential girlfriend, laughed at her expense.

“I’m sorry.” Jupiter spoke as she stifled her laughter. “It’s okay that you aren’t ecchi like Venus. It’s sweet.” She tried to sooth the bluenette and received a furious blush in response.

“Aw, don’t worry Mercury.” Venus laughed, having rolled out from her tree as Mars collapsed on the ground giggling. “I would never try anything on you. Jupiter would kill me.” She snickered and emerald and sapphire eyes met, locked, blushed, and looked away furiously as the remaining scouts continued giggling quietly. Jupiter crossed her arms with a huff and tried to muster up a glare to send the blonde’s way. As if Ami wasn’t skittish enough about this whole thing, jokes did most certainly not help.

“Yes, well….” Pluto began, trying hard to pretend that she had not just dissolved into a fit of laughter, “ we should get on with actually training.” The group sighed collectively and Venus bit her lip, wondering exactly when her self-preservation had died.

“So…..you all wanna do the dare thing?” She chanced and Mercury just hid her head in her hands. Mars shot her a dirty look and Venus shrugged it off with a toss of her hair. “ You were all almost on wood before you found that stupid doujin. Admit it, it’s a good idea.” A set of blanks looks stared back at her and from under her gloves Mercury mumbled.

“On board. We were on board.” She clarified as the rest all nodded, the confusion that was Venus cleared up for them. Their leader rolled her eyes.

“Yes yes. That’s what I said. On board. So…..?” The girls all exchanged looks, trying to gauge the reactions of the others. No one was willing to be the first to support the idea if everyone else was against it. Venus bit her lip and stifled a sigh. Bothersome doujin! It was a perfectly legitimate idea! Not surprisingly, it was Uranus who spoke first.

“We’d definitely have to set rules.” She offered and Venus clutched to the support like a life preserver.

“Yes! Yes, rules! All kinds of rules.” She nodded vehemently. Pluto cocked her head. The wind senshi was not the one she would have predicted to demand a set of restrictions.

“Such as?” Uranus sent her an evil grin and turned pointedly to their blonde leader.

“Such as, no whining if she who tags you out decides to use handcuffs as part of your favor.” Ah, Pluto thought. That certainly explained it. Venus mewled softly in the back of her throat and tried valiantly to hide the fear in her eyes.

“Ah hah ha. Right. Rules like that.” Mercury sighed into her gloves and Jupiter grinned. Between Mars and Uranus, Venus was going to have her hands full fleeing for her life during their training. She cast a sidelong glance at the genius next to her. Could she tag out Mercury? Neptune cleared her throat to interrupt her lover’s intimidation tactics.

“So, are we serious about this?” Uranus shrugged her shoulders.

“I’m in.” Venus swallowed hard and tried to remember that this was what she wanted.

“I’m in.” She answered and Neptune smirked.

“Why not?” She threw in and Uranus wrapped an arm around her shoulders with a proud smile. 

“Pluto?” The greenette rolled her shoulders and looked over to her housemates. With a barely concealed smirk she inclined her head.

“Okay.” She agreed and Venus resisted the urge to cheer.

“Alright! That’s the Outers. How about you guys?” The remaining Inners all shifted and stared at each other uncertainly.

“Oh come on! You aren’t going to let them show us up? Right?” She challenged. Still, no response. With a growl she focused on the resident hothead.

“Mars. You can’t tell me you’re…afraid are you?” Violet eyes glared back.

“Excuse me?” Venus grinned and crossed her arms.

“If that’s what it is, I guess it’s okay. You can just opt out. I understand if you can’t keep up with me.” Jupiter felt the heat waves radiating off her fellow senshi and backed up a few steps dragging Mercury and Sailor Moon with her.

“Keep up with you?!” Came the incredulous echo as the fire senshi once again faced off with the blonde. Venus shrugged indifferently, carefully playing her cards. A leader knew her soldiers, and she knew exactly how to get to the raven.

“I mean, I was expecting Sailor Moon to be nervous about it. And I knew I’d have to work to convince Jupiter. I thought for sure it would be Mercury who was the hold-out in the end. But I never expected that you would be afraid to play hardball. I can‘t believe I‘m braver than you are about this.” The raven seethed and Venus bit her lip, counting down the seconds until the fire guardian snapped. Just as Mars had stepped forward, ready to throw down, a quiet voice spoke up and surprised the absolute hell out of everyone.

“I’m in.” Mercury near whispered and Jupiter whipped her head down to stare at the genius in shock.

“You are?” She asked and determined blue eyes stared up at her.

“Yes. I am.” The bluenette affirmed and Uranus and Neptune shared a quick grin. Snapping out of her stupor Venus struck a victory pose.

“Alright Mercury! Way to step it up and play with the big boys!” Mars just rolled her eyes but Venus choose instead to focus on the brunette, given that the lightning senshi’s weakness had just volunteered.

“How about you Jupiter? Are you going to let Mercury here play without you?” Had the brunette not been so busy hiding her own blush, she would have noticed the equal blush spouting across the genius’s face.

“I guess I’m in too.” She muttered, shifting uneasily. As Venus performed a small victory dance Jupiter chanced a look down at the girl by her side. Mercury was staring down at the ground, turned slightly away, but there was most definitely a self-satisfied smirk on her face. Jupiter blinked, never having seen that look on her wanna-be-girlfriends face before. The smaller girl definitely looked pleased with herself and Jupiter opened her mouth to ask what had possessed her to agree to Venus’s idea but was interrupted as the aforementioned blond moved in on the two remaining hold-outs.

“Alright guys, what’s it gonna be?” The raven had recovered from her shock at Mercury’s statement and shot a glare in her leader’s direction.

“Oh, I am most certainly in.” She seethed vehemently and Venus swallowed hard and forced a smile before focusing on her twin.

“Princess?” She questioned and Sailor Moon shifted and looked between her guardians, all watching her expectantly. Well hell, when in Rome….

“Okay. I’m in too.” Venus exploded in much more elaborate victory dance and Mars just rolled her eyes. 

“Let’s just get this started shall we?” She grumped and Venus halted in mid-step, sending an incredibly falsely innocent smile in the fire senshi’s direction.

“Oh-ho! That eager to get owned by Moi? Patience you must have. Besides, I have dastardly plans in mind for Mercury.” She teased. Mars turned a light red and Mercury whimpered and shot a look to Pluto and Neptune as if to say, I told you I’m doomed. Uranus piped up cheerfully.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. To get to you, she’ll have to get away from me first.” Jupiter snickered as the love senshi gulped audibly and took a step back. 

“We actually should have rules set out.” Mercury tried to be the voice of reason. Pluto nodded and cocked her head at the terrified blonde.

“Did you already have some in mind?” Venus tore herself away from being stared down by the wind senshi and gave the taller woman a sheepish grin.

“Ah, not really.” She admitted and Mars rolled her eyes.

“Why am I not surprised?” She snorted and Neptune grew a mischievous smirk.

“I don’t suppose there were any rules that we can adapt from that?” She asked and nodded her head to the abandoned doujin. Venus stared at it for a moment before flushing and furiously shaking her head.

“No, not so much.” Uranus grinned and took the opportunity to further torment the girl.

“Did it have any rules at all listed in it?” Came the innocent question and if possible the blonde flushed darker, but did not answer. Mars was looking at her suspiciously again and she waved her hands in front of her face.

“Ah, no. Nope. No rules from there at all.” She laughed loudly and Uranus exchanged a quick smirk with her lover before taking a step in the direction of the booklet.

“Maybe I’ll just flip through it and see for myself. Just to be sure.” She never made it more than a few steps before an orange blur few past and in an impressive rolling dive scooped up the offending paperback and hid it behind her back, again.

“Okay.” She admitted as Uranus smirked and Mars scowled. “Maaaaybe it had a few they came up with. But I really really reeeaaallly don’t think we could use them right now.” She sounded desperate. Truthfully, she was. Mars could not, under any circumstances, actually read through the thing with any focus. She shuddered at the thought as the wind senshi reveled in her misery.

“Like what?” Her Princess spoke up, pre-empting the response Mars was about give. Venus shifted on her feet and mulled what little plot existed from the doujin around in her head. Now how to say it out loud without dooming herself unnecessarily?

“Ah, there were time constraints.” She decided on, proud of herself for making it sound so…reasonable. Mercury made a face and nodded.

“That’s not a bad idea actually.” Jupiter looked down at her skeptically.

“Really?” The genius shrugged.

“Well, if today is a success then it stands to reason that we’ll end up doing it each time we spar. Since we train once a week, if we all didn’t have to use up our favors, things could potentially add up very quickly. How disastrous would it be if someone called in multiple favors at once?” The group nodded as they thought it over. Half honestly thinking about how funny it would be to do that to someone, the other half horrified at how bad it could be if it was done to them.

“So how long then?” Jupiter asked as they all looked to Mercury. She looked a bit startled but succumbed to the idea of being the rules manager.

“Well, we train on Sunday correct? Perhaps whatever favor or dare you have planned should be completed by Saturday? That way each week we start fresh?” The group mulled this over and Uranus gave her a thoughtful look.

“What time on Saturday?” Mercury blinked at her as Pluto raised an eyebrow.

“That’s quite specific Uranus.” She pointed out and Uranus crossed her arms and gave a shrug.

“I just want to know how long I can make this last.” Terrified blue eyes raised to the wind senshi and received a wink. Venus sighed, mourning the swiftly arriving loss of her dignity and Mercury wrinkled her nose.

“By midnight?” Eyes met, heads nodded, and the senshi agreed. Rule one was in effect.

“What else?” Neptune asked. Mercury cleared her throat.

“Well, the same way it’d be bad if one person called in multiple rules, it would be just as unfortunate if someone were to tag out more than one person. Or if someone was tagged by more than one person per game.” Uranus looked between the two remaining blondes with a smirk.

“So, you can only tag out, or be tagged out once?” Pluto clarified and Neptune nodded her head.

“Sounds reasonable.”

“So choose who you decide to claim wisely. You only get one a week.” Jupiter rolled her eyes as the wind senshi continued to stare down their leader.

“Any more suggestions?” Neptune asked and Mars glared in the direction of the blonde one who was still hiding the doujin. Venus sighed. There was no way to disguise the meaning behind the next rule listed.

“Um, there may have been something about, no recording?” Pluto blinked at her.

“Recording?” She echoed and Venus shifted.

“Ah, yes. No photographs or….videos.” She chewed on her tongue as a group blush, in beautiful variety of shades, swept over everyone.

“Oh.” The time senshi commented and Mars crossed her arms.

“Ecchi.” As one, they all looked to Mercury to rationalize this new rule and the genius flushed darker and tried hard to pull her mind out the gutter it was currently residing in. Something about the best angle in Makoto’s bedroom…Jupiter watched several expression flit about the bluenette’s face before she set her shoulders and spoke up.

“That makes sense as well.” Uranus pouted at the ruling and Neptune patted her lovers arm.

“Are we sure about that one?” She questioned and Venus’s eyes widened slightly. As if the photographs that had survived from the infamous birthday party weren’t enough, the woman wanted video? As Venus contemplated her doom Mercury shuffled her feet and bit her lip.

“Well, it should be a bit more broad than simply no recording. I would assume the original reason of that rule was so that others did not find out?” She managed to question and looked up at Venus. The blonde hesitated, but then nodded.

“Right. Well I propose we morph that rule into something more along the lines of, No damaging others reputations.” Neptune cocked an eyebrow at the vague description.

“Explain that one please.” The genius sighed and shifted. 

“While we may just be high school students, you all have professional carriers to look out for. Would you really want any of what could happen getting out to the media at large?” While Neptune and Pluto shuddered at the thought Uranus shrugged.

“Might enhance my reputation actually.” She stated and Venus took another hesitant step back as Neptune lightly smacked her lovers arm. Mercury searched her mind for a way to explain this that would get everyone to agree to it and Jupiter came to the rescue.

“And if what had happened at the birthday party had been recorded and gotten out?” Uranus shuddered again and while Neptune soothed her traumatized lover, Mercury sent a grateful smile in Jupiter’s direction. Feeling a tad brave, the brunette sent a mostly innocent but could be easily misconstrued as slightly less than innocent wink at the genius as was rewarded for her bravery with a violent blush. And though the bluenette looked away immediately, there was a soft smile on her face and Jupiter beamed. Boo-yah!

“You have a point.” Pluto agreed and smirked as Uranus shuddered again.

“So, we all agree? No recording, no publishing, and no speaking of what goes on except to those within this group?” Mercury asked. Again, eyes met, heads nodded and rule number three came into being.

“Anything else?” The wind senshi asked, glaring down Venus again. The leader sighed and shifted, looking down at the book in her hands. Well hell….

“Would you believe me if I said no?” She asked and Mars rolled her eyes.

“Say it.” She demanded and Venus swallowed hard, glancing back up at the fiery guardian swiftly.

“I really don’t think we can use it. Do I have to?” She whined and violet eyes narrowed at her.

“You bought it, you say it out loud.”

“I agree. Tell us what the next rule is.” Uranus chimed in and even Sailor Moon smirked. Venus huffed and stomped her foot. Fine. They wanted her to say it so badly, she’d say it.

“Okay. Okay.” She took a deep breath and everyone focused on her. “Well, the next rule….” She began and the senshi all leaned in. “…is the last rule listed.” She stated and they all nodded with her. “ And it was by far the most vital rule of all.” A look awe overtook the defenders.

“It was?” The Princess whispered and Venus nodded solemnly.

“Oh yes. It was the most important one. Everyone absolutely had to follow this rule above all else.” She said seriously and even Mars shifted uneasily.

“What was it?” She asked and Venus kept her serious face on.

“Well, the number one rule…” Mercury leaned forward. “….that everyone followed…..” Jupiter held her breath. “….was that no matter what….” Pluto raised an eyebrow. “….you absolutely had to….” Uranus widened her eyes. “….make sure that your dare…” Neptune leaned close to her lover. “…was one hundred percent…” Mars bit her lip as Venus looked into violet eyes with a smirk. “….Echii.” She finished and for a moment, no one moved. No one even breathed and then…

“E….ech….echii?” Mercury stuttered out, flushing a deep red and Uranus laughed evilly, sending a lecherous smile Venus’s way.

“Oh, I like that rule.” Venus whimpered and Neptune thwacked her lover’s shoulder again. Pluto just smirked.

“Well, we did ask.” Neptune giggled and Jupiter had to fight to focus her suddenly very distracted brain. Would Ami faint if she asked an ecchi favor? What degree of ecchi could she get away with? Mercury just gaped at the blonde as Mars scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Yeah. We should have seen that coming.” Sailor Moon shifted and turned to her frozen ice guardian.

“So, how do we use that one?” Mercury opened her mouth to speak, but as no sound came out Uranus snickered.

“Great job Venus. I think you broke her.” Their leader sighed.

“I told you we couldn’t use it.” Jupiter broke her self out of the fantasy world she’d created and hesitantly tapped Mercury on her shoulder.

“Ah, Mercury? It’s okay.” The startled girl jumped half a foot at her touch, frightening Jupiter along with her. Sailor Moon just giggled as Mercury flushed red and the brunette held a hand to her heart.

“I say we use that one. Make it rule number one.” Uranus chuckled and Pluto just leaned onto her staff again.

“And if young Mercury here were to tag out Neptune? Would you still want that rule to apply?” Neptune’s jaw dropped and whipped her head around to stare at her housemate, a light flush across her cheeks. Pluto just gave her a semi-innocent shrug. Poor Mercury whimpered and froze up all over again as the tall blonde cocked her head to the side.

“You know, if not for that pesky no recording rule, I might not mind at all.” She received more than a light thwack from her lover for that as Mercury buried her head in her hands again.

“Someone’s got the couch tonight.” Venus taunted, happily turning the teasing tables on the wind senshi. Neptune gave an affirmative nod to that and her lover sulked. Mars blew out a breath.

“So, just completely ignoring that rules existence then?” She asked, trying to get them all back on track. Venus pouted at her with playful eyes.

“Aw, is the fire-bug afraid of having to do something dirty for me?” Said fire-bug opened her mouth to reply but Jupiter interrupted with a smirk.

“More like, how afraid are you of having to do something dirty for Uranus?” The color drained from the love senshi’s face as Mars and Uranus both chuckled at her expense. Taking pity on the ice senshi and her current shade of red, Pluto pushed them all forward.

“So, just the first three rules then?” She asked the resident referee and Mercury finally found her voice.

“Ah yes. Just the three then.” Uranus shifted and figured that since she was already couched for the night, she might as well make the most of it.

“With the fourth rule listed as ‘optional’.” She added on and Mars just gave a light groan as Venus flashed an uncertain grin.

“Right. Yes. Um… optional.” Mercury stated as firmly as she could. Jupiter smiled down at her and nudged the smaller girl lightly with her shoulder, giving her a reassuring smile when blue eyes met her own. Oh yes, she was going after Mercury today for sure.

“Okay people!” Venus interrupted, leaping into the middle of the semi-circle they’d formed and throwing out a ‘V’ sign. “ The game is ON!!! Let’s warm up and get on with it.” 

Slowly, everyone moved away from each other, lightly stretching and throwing their powers around a bit. Jupiter was playing with a small ball of lightning and spacing in Mercury’s direction. The bluenette was stretching her legs and playing with something on her mini-comp. But the way she was stretched out gave the brunette a dead perfect view. She didn’t even realize how hard she was staring at those gorgeous toned legs until a soft voice in her ear shocked her so badly she discharged the ball of electricity she’d been playing with. Uranus sent her a dirty look as her sword crackled with energy and went back to soothing Neptune before Jupiter could even manage a sheepish grin in her direction. With a huff she turned and met the amused eyes of the love senshi.

“Can I help you?” She bit out and Venus just smirked at her.

“Enjoying the view?” She asked casually, nodding her head in Mercury’s direction. The bluenette was so focused on whatever she was working on in her computer, she hadn’t even noticed Jupiter’s electric ball go whizzing past her. Jupiter flushed lightly and looked away.

“Maybe.” She admitted quietly and Venus chuckled quietly. There really wasn’t any point in denying it. The self-appointed Love Goddess had figured it out and confronted her months ago. Now she kept up regular tabs on Makoto and the genius and the ‘progress’ they were making. 

“Sooooo, you gonna go for it or what?” The brunette shrugged non-committaly.

“I was thinking about it.” Venus let out a low squeal and clapped her hands together.

“You soo should! You’d be so cute together!” Jupiter flushed and whipped her head around to make sure no one had heard.

“Shhhh!! Gah Venus, keep it down will you? Besides, even if I do tag her…it’s not like….I mean I don’t know what I could….ya know…ask for.” The blonde gave her a dirty wink.

“I could give you some suggestions.” 

“Yeah?” Venus chuckled and clapped her on the back roughly.

“You’re thinking too hard about it. Just…dare her to get naked with you.”

“Not like that!” She hissed, mortified. Jupiter buried her face in her hands. Venus snickered.

“Not yet you mean?” Green eyes peeked through gloved fingers at the Ice soldier. Resigned, she sighed.

“Right. Not yet.” The love soldier scratched her chin thoughtfully.

“Why not just take her out on a date then?”

“How is that any better? I was going for more….subtle?” Venus’s face fell.

“Oh. I don’t do subtle.” 

“No shit.” Jupiter yelped and jumped as Uranus appeared beside her. “What are we talking about?” The lightening senshi opened her mouth to respond, but a blonde cut her off.

“What Jupiter is gonna ask Mercury for when she tags her out.” Uranus chuckled and leaned in. A temporary truce appearing between the two blondes as they focused their efforts on tortur…ah…..HELPING Jupiter.

“You’re thinking about this too hard. Just dare her to get naked with you.” Jupiter’s groan was audible then, and she shut her eyes, willing them away. They didn’t listen.

“Nope. That’s what I said. She wants to go for more subtle.” Uranus rolled her eyes and clapped the thunder senshi on the back hard enough to make her stumble forward.

“Why? What’s the fun of a dare if you aren’t going to go all the way? Am I right?” Venus joined in, clapping her other shoulder, and blue eyes met blue eyes over a hunched brunette covered head. Uranus smirked at Venus and a mild stare-down followed. Venus, trying hard not to show how terrified she was as she suddenly realized that the next ‘all the way dare‘ Uranus issued would be at her expense, and Uranus waiting for the younger blonde to crumble. Jupiter huffed and looked skyward.

“Just because you two are ecchi doesn’t mean I am. This is AMI we’re talking about.” Uranus broke off the stare-down, much to Venus’s relief.

“Hmmm. That’s a good point. Push to far and she’ll faint.” Now on topic, Venus giggled.

“You gotta watch out for the innocent ones though. I bet the quiet ones are the real freaks….” She trailed off and Uranus sent a surreptitious glance over her shoulder before slinging an arm around their leader’s shoulders.

“Certainly holds true for Michiru.” The blondes cackled with glee and Jupiter sent them a look, begging the heavens for a reprieve. She must have had some extra karma because her wish was granted. Not involved in the hentai giggling fest, Jupiter felt the rumbling of the ground first. Turning her head, she caught sight of what was barreling towards them and jumped back out of pure reflex. Venus, who still had a hand around her shoulders, was yanked back with her. That left Uranus, standing alone for a brief second, before the large and especially violent wall of water slammed into her, carrying her away into the woods. 

Together, green and blue eyes turned to face Neptune. She sent Venus an icy glare that nearly put Mercury’s powers to shame and with a huff returned to lightly sparring with Pluto. Next to Jupiter, the blonde left standing whimpered, shivering under a heavy coating of snow that had fallen over her.

“I’m doomed.” The brunette could only nod in sympathy.

“Yeah. You aren’t going to make it out.” Venus whimpered, pouting out her lip.

“What…..what do you think she’ll ask for?” Jupiter sent her friend a pained glance and she involuntarily shuddered.

“Ah…..” She could give no answer, certain that it was going to be much much worse than anything she could come up with. Venus shook off the snowy slush, puffing out suddenly in pose, and Jupiter closed her eyes as ice splattered her face. Kami but that was cold!

“I, Sailor Venus, shall prevail in the name of love!” Jupiter blinked at her in irritation, still wiping white fluff from her bow and after a tense few seconds, Venus deflated. “So, what are you going to do about Mercury? Our help kinda….” They both trailed off, staring down the watery muddy trail that marked Uranus’s untimely departure. 

“…washed out?” Jupiter finished and Venus let the sweat-drop loose.

“Yeah…. Well…. I still say you should still ask her out on a date.” Jupiter rolled her eyes.

“Like I said, I was aiming for subtle.” Venus shrugged, as if this was of little importance.

“So don’t tell her it’s a date. Kami Jupiter this isn’t a rocket scientists hard place!” At the dumbfounded look she got in return, Venus pushed on. “Just tell her you know how stressful school can be and you wanna go out and do something fun. One whole day with no studying! Then take her to like the zoo or an amusement park and out to dinner. She gets to think it isn’t a date, and you get a full day of Ami.” Jupiter stomped her foot, exploding. She was done with her ‘help.’

“That is such a….” and then it hit her and she blinked slowly, cocking her head as Venus lowered her arms from where’d they’d impulsively moved to protect her face. “That’s actually a good idea.” 

“Well of course! It’s my idea after all.” Jupiter nodded, already thinking.

“That could totally work. A non-date date….” Venus whapped her on the back suddenly and with enough force to send the strongest senshi stumbling forward into the soaked ground. 

“Glad I could be of service.” Jupiter popped back up, angrily swatting mud from her tiara. Help or no, Venus was going down. Before she got the chance to get a head start on sparring, the blonde leaned in close.

“When this is all over,” The blonde began, whispering conspiratorially, “you should borrow that doujin.” Jupiter sputtered in disbelief, her anger forgotten.

“And risk going through what you just did? No thanks. Why would I want that blasted thing anyway?” Venus only tipped her head closer.

“Because…” she stressed playfully, “Each ‘Training’ section features a different pair. And in section three, Jupiter gets Mercury.” She waggled her eyebrows at the lightening senshi and emerald eyes flicked in the Ice guardians direction.

“Yeah?” She asked quietly and the blonde shot her a grin.

“Oh yeah. Worth the read for sure.” The brunette shifted from foot to foot nervously and bit her lip.

“I dunno…” She trailed off, putting off her inevitable surrender. If she at least tried to resist, maybe she wouldn’t feel so guilty enjoying it later? Venus smirked and shrugged.

“Well, it’s totally your call of course. I’m sure your imagination keeps you plenty busy. But let me just say that the author, whoever she is, gave Jupiter a hell of an imagination too.” Jupiter swallowed hard, weighed the pros and cons briefly, and succumbed.

“Okay okay.” She whispered hastily, glancing about for spying eyes. “But wait till this is all over and we’re heading home. Less chance of me getting caught with that thing. No one can know.” Her blonde companion rolled her eyes.

“Jeeze Jupiter, relax. It’s not a drug deal going down or anything. What’s the worst that can happen?” As if on cue a tree erupted in flames behind them as Mars finished off a violent ‘Burning Mandala’. Violet eyes sent a scathing look at Venus as Mars ran a finger across her throat in a death threat. The love goddess looked back up at Jupiter, her eyes filled with horror and even the lightening senshi swallowed hard.

“Um, that. I believe something like that is the worst that could happen.” The blonde shuddered and let out a shaky breath.

“Yes. Right. Well, after practice then.” Jupiter nodded her assent and Venus wandered off to enjoy her last few moments of life. 

Without meaning to, Jupiter let herself get lost in her mind. Imagining how things could play out this week. Different dares, different responses. What else could she ask for? A real date? A good-night kiss? What could they do for a full day together? Just the two of them….. Before she knew it, everyone was lining up at the forest edge, ready for the battle to begin. Uranus had stumbled out, dripping wet, and had wordlessly settled nearby Neptune, squeezing water out of her fuku sullenly. Mercury, Moon and Mars, having missed the whole episode, watched her with wide disbelieving eyes. Pluto only sighed, completely used to lover’s spats that could have and had, even on the best of days, demolished large sections of house.

“Okay, you all know the original rules of course.” Venus stepped up, addressing her troops. “We all head into the woods, in different directions. Mercury set her mini comp for fifteen minutes. When times up, she’ll send up the flare and it’s game on.” Beside her Mercury tore her eyes away from the growing puddle under Uranus and motioned to her mini-comp.

“I’ve designed a holographic flare for this session. The objective used to be to find each other and spar so a flare marking my position was acceptable. Since the point now seems to be running for my life,” She sent a dirty look in the Love goddess’s direction. “A holographic flare can be sent up remotely from wherever I am so as not to give away my location.” Uranus leaned over to Jupiter, gaining back some of her spunk, and whispered lightly in her ear.

“Guess that takes away your advantage huh?” She teased lightly and the brunette felt the heat rush to her cheeks.

“Who says she’s for sure who I was going after?” She tried to defend, crossing her arms. The blonde cracked an amused grin.

“No one. It was just an, educated guess is all.” Jupiter rolled her eyes and tried to look irritated as Mercury shot them both a confused glance.

“Everything okay?” She asked, tilting her head slightly and Uranus chuckled. Jupiter put her hands behind her head, shooting the bluenette a smile.

“Oh yeah. Everything is just fine. All good here.” Mercury blinked at them both as Uranus stifled her giggles.

“Okay then.” Beside her, Uranus stretched and bounced on her feet as a sudden rush of wind whipped around her, spattering the nearest senshi with sea-water. Now mostly dry, she was eager to get going.

“So, we didn’t cover how you tag someone?” Venus scrunched her nose and sneezed out salt-water before speaking.

“What?” The taller blond rolled her eyes and grinned mischievously.

“Do we just spar till’ the other person cries Uncle or what?” The Princess was utterly confused.

“What do our Uncle’s have to do with anything?” Half of the senshi face-planted. The other half were slightly more elegant about it, and just face-palmed.

“Baka! Not real Uncles! It means to give up.” The Princess’s mouth formed a little ’o’ and Mars rolled her eyes.

“Kami, you are just as bad as Venus sometimes.” 

“Hey.” Their leader muttered, indignant. Violet eyes just stared her down until she relented.

“What about our broaches?” Neptune stepped up.

“You mean you have to take the other scouts bow?” Mercury sighed as they all turned to her again.

“That would work. It would allow for close quarter sparring.” Jupiter swallowed hard. She had to grab Mercury’s bow to tag her out? Her bow that was located….right by her…. She flushed lightly and from beside her, Uranus snickered. Pluto, pretty much aware of what was going on but unwilling to comment on it just tapped the ground with her staff.

“Shall we proceed?” A row of nods, a click of Mercury’s timer, and they were off. 

Jupiter poured extra strength into her legs, wanting to put as much distance between her and the wood’s edge as possible in the fifteen minutes that she had. She knew she could outrun Mercury in that time. That way, once the flare went up, she could double back and work a pattern. Hopefully ‘stumbling’ on the genius in the process. Her face felt warm at the ideas flitting about in her head, making it hard to concentrate. She nearly ran headlong into a tree, and had never been more grateful that they spread out so far. She could practically hear Venus in her head.

“If a Jupiter runs into a tree in the forest…” A loud bang sounded and she looked up to see the sparkling fire-works of a holographic flare explode into existence. She smirked and skidded to a halt. It was game-on.


	2. Chapter 2

Or so she thought. Nearly thirty minutes later, and she’d actually only managed a run-in with one other scout. The ball of water had come from nowhere, completely catching her off guard, and she’d only barely managed to stand when the first punch was thrown. 

Despite her own combat prowess, Outers were not Outers for nothing and Neptune was proving quite adept at close quarter sparring. Jupiter could think of little else, given how busy she was dodging fists and knees, but she made a mental note to commend the sea senshi later. She was getting winded. Kami but this was supposed to be the most elegant senshi? Neptune was a freaking animal and Jupiter couldn’t respond fast enough to do much more than block her body from onslaught.

But her heart was set on a different water senshi, and after a good ten minute rumble, she gathered as much strength as she could, slammed the Outer in the solar plexus, and sprung backwards, ready to make a run for it. They faced off in the small clearing they’d rolled into, and Jupiter felt a little pride puffing in her chest when she realized that Neptune was panting almost as hard as she was. The violinist perked an eyebrow at her.

“I don’t believe I’ve sparred that hard with you in a long time.” Jupiter leaned over, her hands gripping her knees as she fought for air.

“I think…. the last time…..was when…..we were….fighting….for real.” She panted out and Neptune nodded.

“It seems Venus was onto something with this idea then no?” Jupiter felt a completely different type of flush light up her face.

“Maybe…” She mumbled and the other senshi smirked, like she knew what was tumbling around in the brunette’s suddenly ecchi head. Neptune dropped her fighting stance so suddenly that Jupiter reflexively jumped back into hers. Confusion etched on her face when the aquanette turned to walk away from her. 

“Well, this was fun but we are not each other’s main goal now are we? Ja ne!” She waved a hand behind her head as she disappeared into the trees and the lightning senshi let out a groan at the dismissal. She could handle having her ass kicked by Uranus, but to have the blonde’s girlfriend so thoroughly own her? Gah, there went her ego.

It had taken her another five minutes to catch her breath fully, and then she was back on the hunt. Another five minutes picturing exactly how hard she was going to have to train to keep up with Neptune the next time they ran into each other, and she found her target. Well, actually, she found evidence of her target. Her eyes wider than her face and her mouth open to the ground, she looked up at the easily fifteen foot high wall of solid fog.

“Well, somebody’s been practicing.” She muttered to herself and walked up to it, goosebumps appearing over her skin the closer she got. So not only was the fog thick, it was freaking cold too. She harrumphed and eased her arm into it, noting that after just a few inches she couldn’t see her own hand. She almost couldn’t feel it either. Kami! What the hell was the fog made of? After only a few seconds she yanked her arm out, cringing to discover it was now a solid ice cube. She shook it viscously to regain the feeling in her fingertips. 

There was only one senshi who could make a wall of freezing fog nearly three times her height. How in the hell was Jupiter supposed to find Mercury in there? She’d be a sitting duck, completely at the smaller senshi’s mercy. And that just would not do. Mercury was obviously not taking any chances when it came to Venus finding her. She must REALLY hate clubbing. The kind of energy required to keep this up…. If anyone found her she probably wouldn’t put up much of a fight. Hmmm, now there was a thought.

With a grin, Jupiter began a trek around the fog, trying to get an idea of the size of the Ice senshi’s hiding place. Maybe…just maybe, with a little bit of luck, she could form an attack plan. And after ten minutes or so, she realized that Mercury must hate clubbing with all of her being. As in, would sell her soul to avoid it. Like, would forgo homework for at LEAST a month if it meant avoiding a certain blonde and a bar. 

The fog wasn’t in a circle, or a triangle or even any kind of recognizable shape. It had curves and points and juts. As if that didn’t make it hard enough, Jupiter was fairly certain the walls were moving. Fading in and out, back and forth. It was impossible to tell the outline, so walking into the mist you’d have no clue where you were and there was no way to tell how long it’d take you to make it back out. It would literally be like walking into a freezer the size of a moving football field, blindfolded, and trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. With a whimper she flumped to the ground and stared up at her new opponent in defiance. 

This would not beat her. This would not stop her. Oh no. Weeks and months of tip-toeing around Ami and now she had the PERFECT way to get her alone and move things along. Their first date was so close that she could freaking TASTE it. She would NOT be defeated by an oversized Shabon Spray. She contemplated just electrocuting the whole thing, but then decided that frying her would-be date was probably not the best way to start the relationship off. 

She stood, stretching her legs, and decided to just keep circling the fog and maybe find a weak spot. Mercury couldn’t be good enough to keep up a solid front on a form this size forever. A crunch of leaves sounded behind her and she had just enough time to duck before a Crescent Beam shot over her head. 

Gritting her teeth, Jupiter looked up to see Venus standing a few yards away, a smirk on her face, her pose as perfect and as model-esque as ever, save for a few twigs that were sticking out of her hair like they were growing from her skull. When the blonde noticed her noticing, she hastily ripped them out, striking a pose once again.

“Pay no attention to the evil, vile shrubbery!” She commanded and Jupiter couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow.

“What’d you do? Fall down a hill into a bush?” Her fearless leader’s face fell briefly.

“I did not FALL into a bush. I’ll have you know I chose to HIDE in a bush for a tactical advantage.” She huffed in indignation. Jupiter scrunched up her nose and cocked her head, smirking as the truth of the sentence wormed its way out.

“ You were hiding from Uranus weren’t you?” Venus’s lip quivered slightly before she broke out into a full blown pout.

“She won’t leave me alone!” She whined, tears spilling out and Jupiter only crossed her arms and smirked.

“Serves you right.” Venus stuck her tongue out.

“All I did was try to bring a little beauty into the world. Was that so wrong?”

“Uranus thinks so.” Venus groaned.

“I should just try and take your bow so at least I’m safe this round.” Jupiter slid into a defensive stance. She had not just gotten her ass handed to her by Neptune, managed to walk away and to find Mercury only to be taken out by Venus.

“You can try.” She challenged and for a tense few moments they stared each other down until the unforgettable rumble of a distant World Shaking sounded. The blonde’s serious face lasted only point three milliseconds longer before she crumbled.

“Don’t let her get me!!!!” She cried and Jupiter about face-planted.

“Well you should keep it down then at least.” She shushed the mess of tears in front of her. Venus immediately clamped both hands over her mouth and turned slowly in the direction of the distant fight. After a few silent moments she removed her hands and heaved a relived breath, Jupiter only rolled her eyes in response.

“Is she the only one you’re running from?” Venus snorted and stomped the ground.

“I haven’t had the time to run from anyone else. That damned Outer is everywhere I go!” Jupiter cocked her head to the side.

“No sign of Mars yet?” Having completely forgotten about the second threat to her existence Venus whimpered and whipped her head around.

“Oh Kami, no! Did you see her? Is she close?” The blonde was all but crying and Jupiter felt at least a little pity. She’d be a mess too if the had the hentai force that was Uranus and the apocalyptic force that was an angry Mars after her. She held her hands up in a placating manner.

“No no, calm down. I haven’t run into her. Only Neptune, and now… this.” She muttered, waving a hand in the direction of the white wall. Venus scrunched her nose up.

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen any sign of her either. No flaming trees or anything.” Her eyes grew wide. “ Do you think she’s hiding out? Just waiting for me to pass by all innocent and unsuspecting?!” The tears came back again and Jupiter snickered.

“Yeah right. Mars doesn’t have the patience to wait in hiding. Especially when she’s angry. No sign of her probably just means she went a different direction.” The Love Senshi’s shoulders relaxed a fraction, her imagined list of enemies now cut in half. That brought her attention to the half she knew for a fact was not in a different direction and she fought for a distraction from her overwhelming, although completely warranted fear of the tall blonde outer.

“So, what do you plan to do about this?” Jupiter looked again to the fog wall the Venus had motioned to a made a face.

“I….. have no idea.” The blonde bit her lip to keep from snickering and then abruptly dropped her smile as yet another ‘world shaking’ rumbled in the not nearly distant enough distance.

“Right then. Well, I’ve got to run, literally. Good luck with that.” And just like that, the orange clad senshi was off. Though not before Jupiter swore she heard mumbling that sounded suspiciously like ‘one innocent bottle of mascara’. Shaking off her odd encounter, she bit her lip and continued her trek around the mass of cold air. Somewhere in that mass of cold was her future date, all she had to do was find out how to get her out.

Briefly she considered yelling out that Venus was gone, on the off chance that that would be enough to draw her genius from the icy depths. That would however kill her element of surprise. Maybe she could offer a trade? Yell out that Venus was close and that Mercury could come and surrender to her so Venus could not get to her? Tempting as it was, it was sneaky, and Jupiter was determined to win her first date with at least a little bit of honor. That really only left her with the first plan she’d come up with. To circle until she found a spot weak enough to avoid being turned into a human ice cube, and run hell-mill through until she ran into her little ice-sprite. With a huff of resignation, Jupiter pushed on.

After a few passes and more time than the brunette would ever admit to, she was sure she’d found her spot. The lightning senshi chewed on her lip as she stared through the mist. At least here she could see a few trees in. And though they were obviously covered in a thin sheet of frost, it wasn’t nearly the freezing temperature of the surrounding fog. This was probably her best bet. Even if it wasn’t, she’d wasted enough time wandering. Electricity was making her skin crawl and she itched to just do something. Even if that something was as suicidal as walking into Tokyo’s own winter wonderland from hell.

A bout of logic snuck its way into her head and she sighed. Looking around to be doubly sure that no one would see how ridiculous she was about to seem, Jupiter began doing jumping jacks. Humiliating to be sure, but she needed to amp up her internal temperature a few degrees if she was ever going to survive long enough to find Mercury. With a smile she figured if nothing else, the genius would be proud of her for remembering that little lesson. Bouncing on her toes, she was talking herself up to just go for it until an odd noise made her turn her head.

“Help meeee!!!!” Venus screamed, covering the distance between them with a speed that even Haruka would be jealous of and slamming into the startled brunette.

“Venus?” Jupiter questioned in confusion, looking down at the mass that she hadn’t actually identified by sight, but by decibel of piercing wail. A mass that was now in her arms and attached to her with a force that she’d only ever dreamed Ami capable of. Big watery baby blues stared up at her.

“Oh Kami, help! She found me!” Sure enough, Jupiter could hear the undergrowth crashing as another body headed their direction. She took a step back, her leader still clutched her body. The crashing grew louder and Jupiter could just make out an all too familiar voice.

“Oh Venus! Come out come out wherever you are!!!!” Uranus’s cheerful voice rang out and even Jupiter swallowed hard, making a mental note to never ever get on the wind senshi’s bad side. Cause, holy shit, this was just all kinds of scary movie, evil bad guy, you are soooo dead kinda doom. 

In fear for her life as the harbinger of doom herself bore down on them, Venus completely lost it. Panicked, the blond looked down and Jupiter had barely a moment to tense. Exclamation points of alarm dotted around her as her fearless leader had a mental breakdown. She swore she could hear alarm bells sounding in the background. 

“I’m sorry about your date but this is life or death!” In slow motion, green eyes watched in horror as a white glove reached out for her bow. An epic orchestral series finale song played in the background. Symbolic images flashed in the sky. Fingertips grazed her broach and Jupiter snapped into action. Every survival instinct the brunette had kicked in and in a flurry of movement she ripped herself backwards, battling away grabby fingers. She managed to fall in an undignified heap on her ass, but with her bow still intact. She let out a whoosh of relief that was short lived as the blond dove at her headfirst.

Jupiter only barely managed to roll away, leaping up just in time to let Venus eat a faceful of dirt. Panting, they both whipped their heads up as the really quite frikken scary voice of the Outer rang out.

“Here’s Johnny!!!!!!” Venus gave a pained cry and launched herself at the frozen brunette. With Uranus terrifyingly close, and Venus mentally disconnected, Jupiter called upon her most sacred, treasured, and vital senshi power. The one thing she could think of in such a traumatic situation. 

She ran.

Spinning on her heel, she tore off headfirst into the mist, ignoring the goosebumps that instantly covered her bare skin in favor of putting more distance between her and the blond explosion. One of them would no doubt bring an end to her short lived Operation: It’s Not A Date Date, and she was sure she‘d rather not lose to either of them at this point. With Uranus in the mood to make an Inner suffer, Jupiter wanted to avoid the racer for as long as humanly, or not quite so humanly in the senshi case, possible. And Venus, well, she had a distinct feeling that had Venus tagged her out, she‘d be following through on that ‘Dare her to get naked with you’ thing sooner rather than later. Either way, running was a wonderful option.

However, it became very obvious very quickly that she had in fact been incorrect about her so-called ‘best bet’. The mist closed in and along with a swift drop in visibility came a swift drop in temperature as well. After tripping over a plant of some sort and nearly losing her footing in the newly laid sheet of snow that seemed to be everywhere, she skidded to a stop, mostly because at the speed she was going she suspected she’d end up having an intimate face-to-face with a tree. And that was if she didn’t freeze to death first. Like, where the hell had all this power of Mercury’s BEEN this whole damn time?

The mist was heavy and thick and took the sound away. Some sort of weird, senses-numbing parallel dimension. Who turned off the sound to the whole frikkin world? For a moment Jupiter was left in absolute freezing, blinding silence. No clue which way to go. All of their training certainly hadn’t prepared her for this type of situation. She took a few steps absently, no real direction in her movement. Briefly she rubbed her arms, trying to bring back the feeling in them. Kami, their date would totally be worth this, right? If she turned into a giant Jupiter-cicle, Mercury’d thaw her out, right? In all kinds of…body warming type ways. Well… there was a thought. She’d just about decided to just head off into the abyss again when a bloodcurdling scream sounded behind her and the mist parted.

“Aiiiieeeeeee!!!!!!” Jupiter whirled around and was greeted with the sight of Venus running full-tilt towards her, hand outstretched as if she could reach Jupiter’s bow just by sheer will power. And if the wide-eyed, red-faced, frazzled-hair, terrified expression of the senshi of Love was not enough to put fear in Jupiter’s soul, the absolutely evil expression of the tall blonde senshi only a few paces behind was more than enough.

Deciding quickly that freezing to death wasn’t a bad option after all, ecchi body-warming fantasies aside, Jupiter kept running. Uranus may have been faster than her, and a terrified-for-her-life Venus may have come in a close second, but Jupiter was fighting for love. And damned if that didn’t give her a bit of extra strength. Using every reflex she had to avoid the trees popping out of the fog with split second notice, she didn’t slow down until the chaos behind her was out of earshot. And it took awhile. The wind senshi’s evil cackle went first. Then the Love and Beauty Shockwaves. Venus’s screams took the longest to fade away. Jupiter felt a little guilty, even as her legs kept pumping. But honestly, the girl had brought it on herself.

Sadly, karma had apparently decided that today was the day that Jupiter was going to pay for as many of her past transgressions as possible, and the very second the well-endowed senshi relaxed, thinking she was in the clear, an odd sensation overtook her. In her hyped up state, it took her an extra millisecond or two to figure out what it was. It was like, her feet weren’t even touching the ground. Sparing a look down, she figured out why. 

Not only had Mercury surrounded herself with her moveable ice-box, but had done so while hiding at the base of a hill, or cliff, or ravine of some sort. It was a brilliant tactical move in all honesty. Anyone dumb enough to brave the blinding cold would have been stumped when they came across the nearly vertical drop. Nigh impossible to traverse without being able to see where you were going. And Jupiter would have to commend her on it later. Right now however, she was far to busy experiencing her own particular solution to the ‘how to reach the bottom of the hill’ problem. That being of course, that she had run right over the edge.

Letting loose a scream that even she knew sounded ridiculously girly, she flailed her arms in a desperate attempt to stay upright, now running pretty much straight down the mountainside. Hello adrenaline. She wasn’t doing an altogether bad job of it, and for a brief moment, she actually thought she’d make it out unscathed. Gravity however had teamed up with karma and as her body overtook her feet, Jupiter had one last fleeting thought. 

‘Holy Crap is this going to hurt.’

She hit the ground hard and rolled, bouncing over dirt and ferns and a snow bank and through a tree and then through some mud and another tree and wow that bush had gotten way too intimate with her and holy god snow was NOT supposed to go there! The ground leveled out, and with a final anticlimactic whump, she came to a sudden screeching halt. 

For a moment, she didn’t move. Wondering how many bones were broken or if she was even conscious. She thought honestly that she’d gotten a break. She had to have landed on a pile of moss, because as she took stock of her injuries, or lack thereof, she noticed that whatever she’d landed on was soft. And warm. And…..moving? What the hell?! Jupiter forced her eyes open for the first time since beginning her downward spiral and found herself looking down into the startled blue orbs of the ice senshi herself.

For a brief second there was absolute still. Neither girl moved save for a widening of the eyes and rapidly increased heartbeat.

Oh my kami. That’s Mercury. That’s Mercury right here and she’s underneath me and I’m on top of here and oh wow we are completely pressed up against each other and she’s so soft and damn her hair smells nice and oh my kami is that her? Am I touching her? Oh wow…Oh I am…. And she…..she‘s touching my…… and she smells so good and look how blue her eyes are her mouth is right there and she‘s blushing. Am I blushing? I‘m probably blushing too…… Right? I’m blushing? I’d have to be cause she’s there and I’m here and…. Crap, I should be doing something….

There was sudden movement between them and it broke her out of her train of thought. Emerald eyes blinked and glanced down at the light pressure on her chest. A delicate gloved hand was firmly grasping her bow.

Jupiter felt her jaw drop in surprise and looked back up at Mercury. The poor Ice senshi looked as surprised as she was. Blinking down at her hand and then back up again. She opened her mouth to speak and a confused look overcame her. It was so adorable, that Jupiter couldn’t help but smile down at her. It seemed to break her genius out of it and with a sheepish shrug and a small grin she spoke.

“Um, tag?” She whispered and Jupiter just huffed. 

“ I uh, guess you got me.” Mercury blushed, frozen in place, and Jupiter was having a hard time finding a reason to move. After all the hell she’d gone through in the last hour or so, only to be defeated LITERALLY within inches of her goal, she figured she’d earned some sort of karmic payback. And laying here, completely flush with her little mermaid, well that was a good of a prize as any. For her part, the bluenette couldn’t decide on where to look, her gaze darting all over the place. Finally she took a breath, and Jupiter drug herself away from staring down at her serenely.

“How um, …. How did you find me?” Jupiter chucked and sat back, nervous. No need to tell her how she’d spent the entire training session stalking the Ice Senshi down with the sole intent of asking her out on a date. Nope. No need for that at all. She rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

“On accident actually. I was running away from Venus and Uranus.” Mercury winced and a moment of silence was given in honor or what Venus had no doubt gone through. Or would go through very soon. Mercury shifted and smiled.

“I’m very glad you didn’t freeze on your way in. And that you managed to get to the bottom of the cliff without harm.” Jupiter grinned.

“I did jumping jacks before I ran in. To raise my internal temp.” Mercury beamed at her.

“Really? What a logical thing to do Jupiter!” The Thunder Senshi glowed at the compliment.

“Coming down the hill, that was crazy. I meant to commend you on that. It was a great tactical move.” She stared down and got lost in deep blue pools. Her peripheral vision catching the light blush on the smaller girls cheeks. Mercury shifted, and looked away, a smile on her lips.

“Yes, well, I tried to think, if you HAD to hide, how would you do it?” Jupiter laughed and looked down at her angel, for a millisecond wondering how she found this so hard. Times like these, everything was just so, easy with them. So right. 

“I don’t think I could have come up with something this clever. That’s all you.” She whispered, her heart thudding as Mercury didn’t look away this time. How easy it would be to just lean closer. To finally taste the lips she’d been dreaming about for so long… However, life had a delightful way of interrupting such moments and in a few short seconds, distant screams could be heard. They both snapped their heads to the side and watched as the sounds faded. But, alas, the moment had been broken and Jupiter stood, offering a hand to the bluenette, pulling her to her feet.

“I guess we should be heading back then no? Out of harms way?” Mercury blushed and nodded.

“Yes, I definitely don’t want to be in the area if that particular scuffle is still going on.” Jupiter grinned.

“At least we set rules. Now we’re both safe from them I guess.” Mercury stopped walking for a moment as the reality hit her.

“I’m safe?” She seemed to deflate and sighed happily. “I’m safe.” She was so relieved that she uncharacteristically glomped onto Jupiter so fast the brunette almost yelped.

“Oh Kami, thank you. I’m safe.” Jupiter smiled and hugged the smaller girl back.

“Well, you tagged me so you kept yourself safe. But you’re welcome all the same.” She said with a chuckle and blue eyes pulled back to stare at her.

“I’m safe. From her! From that….” she shuddered, “…place. You have no idea how happy I am right now.” With her girl in her arms, and apparently happy to be there, Jupiter felt she probably did. Taking a chance because she’d already worked herself up to a date so the very least she could do was try to further their relationship a little, she gently brushed a strand of blue hair back and gave a soft smile.

“Oh, I think I have an idea.” The light pink that dusted the genius’s cheeks glowed before she ducked her head, but didn’t pull away and Jupiter felt her heart flutter. Score one for the Senshi of Courage! A few more moments in the embrace and Mercury shifted, pulling away with a little embarrassment. But still, it had been progress so the taller girl let it go, a smile still plastered to her face. Figuring that Mercury needed a little un-seriousness before she flushed to death, Jupiter spread her arms wide and motioned to the winter wonderland around them.

“I don’t suppose you can will this away? It’d make the walk back that much easier.” The Mercurian looked confused for a moment.

“What? Oh! Of course.” She closed her eyes and Jupiter felt the blue glow radiate off of her for a few moments. When the power faded, the air was noticeably warmer and the fog had begun to dissipate.

“You’ve been practicing.” She commented as they began the walk back and the genius gave a shy shrug.

“It’s just an over-sized Shabon Spray really. I was sort of desperate.” Jupiter chuckled recalling having that same thought earlier.

“Must of taken a lot of energy.”

“Yes. Honestly, if I hadn’t of taken you off guard, I wouldn’t of been able to put up much of a fight at all. I was pretty weakened.” Jupiter kept the smile on her face but mentally face-palmed. Kami! She had been so close! Now instead of asking Ami out on a date, Ami got to ask her for something…. Hmmm. The thought perked her up and she resolved not to be so gloomy about the whole ordeal. Maybe Ami would ask HER for a date? She couldn’t help a chuckle at the thought of the reserved genius going that far out of her comfort zone and said genius glanced up at her.

“What’s so funny?” Jupiter shook her head and put her hands up with one last chuckle.

“Nothing. Just a funny thought is all.” The bluenette gave her an odd look but didn’t push it and the rest of the journey was made in comfortable silence.

Once they were back to the starting area, Jupiter noted that they weren’t the first ones finished and she bit back a snicker at the sight of Usagi sitting glumly on a log, and a self-satisfied Michiru leaning against a tree behind her. It didn’t take a genius to figure out how that particular sparring session had gone. 

The two detransformed as they walked up and Michiru gave them a friendly nod.

“I see you made it.” They both nodded and Makoto took a seat next to her Princess.

“She got you huh?” Usagi whimpered and nodded.

“She came out of nowhere.” Michiru chuckled lightly and Ami just shook her head. 

“I understand. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” Makoto tried to soothe and Usagi only grumped at her.

“You don’t understand. How could you? You’re one of the ones who gets to DO a dare.” Makoto gave her a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of her neck, glancing back at Ami.

“Actually, I’m not.” This surprised both other girls and Usagi glanced disbelieving between the two.

“You mean SHE got YOU?” She asked incredulously and Makoto nodded.

“Fair and square.” Michiru, looking significantly less surprised, arched an eyebrow at her swimming rival.

“Really now? Well, that’s certainly a twist hmm?” Ami blushed furiously under Michiru’s stare and avoided eye-contact. Makoto cocked her head, certain that she’d just missed some secret communication. Then again, EVERYTHING the violinist said seemed to have a hidden meaning. Damn psychics. 

Usagi sighed and went back to moping and Makoto ignored trying to figure Michiru out, because actually trying to understand the language of the Outers was just a guaranteed migraine. Why they just couldn’t talk like normal people, she had no clue. Seriously, even after all this time half of their conversations went waaay over her head. Instead, she opted to keep her mind occupied with her plan of attack for next week. First and foremost, how exactly she was going to heal her wounded pride over the severe butt-kicking she’d received. And secondly, Operation Not a Date Date, Part Two.

The group didn’t have to wait long before the next pair showed up and they all knew who it was before they could visually confirm it through the trees. The sound started low and hard to understand, but once it became clear, even Ami winced.

Someone was, quite happily, humming the death-march. It was odd to hear such a depressing melody hummed in such a happy tone and the reason became obvious as Minako appeared first, looking like death warmed over.

Her face was gray and glum, her eyes wide and empty, her lips quivering in near tears. Her feet dragged in the dirt, leaving a small cloud of dust behind her. It was…..pathetic. And pity-inducing. That too. And, nearly skipping behind her, contentedly humming, was Haruka. She switched to whistling as they walked across the clearing and Minako sat on the other side of her Princess as the taller blond walked happily over to her girlfriend.

“Victorious I assume?” Michiru asked and received an happy nuzzle in response. At her gleeful noise, the newest blonde only whimpered pathetically and Usagi whimpered with her in support, Minako swiftly turned to her twin, eyes watering.

“We’ll survive this together.” Usagi declared, grabbing her first in commands hands. Minako nodded, still pouting.

“I’ll be there with you too.” They held each other dramatically and Makoto rolled her eyes. Haruka wrapped her arms around Michiru and regarded the inners.

“Are you going to join the support fest Ami-san? Or do you have confidence in Makoto-san?” Before either girl could speak Michiru giggled.

“Actually, it should be Makoto-san joining them.” Haruka couldn’t help her jaw dropping as she stared down at the brunette.

“SHE got YOU?” She asked and Ami huffed lightly.

“Why is that such a surprise to everyone?” She asked, obviously irritated. Haruka sputtered for a moment and Michiru smiled, throwing a wink to Ami.

“Yes dear. Do you really underestimate the water senshi so greatly?” Haruka’s eyes widened rapidly.

“What? N..No Michi-chan. Of course I don’t.” Minako came out of her stupor to snicker at the Wind Senshi’s expense and Makoto smiled, adding to Ami’s defense.

“ Yep. She out smarted me for sure.” Ami blinked at the compliment and immediately turned red, ducking her eyes.

“It was just luck.” Before Makoto could insist otherwise, thereby scoring herself some extra brownie points, Minako finally processed, and therefore reacted to, the news.

“Seriously? You lost?! After all that you lost?” Makoto clenched her teeth and Ami looked at her curiously.

“After all what?” She questioned and Makoto shot Minako a look the clearly said she intended to help Haruka punish her. Realization sunk in and Minako back-tracked swiftly, throwing her hands up.

“Ah, all that nothing. Just, you know, training. Nothing training. For all the…sparring. That we did. Had to do….. In there. “ She finished lamely and Ami and Haruka both quirked an eyebrow. A cricket chirped. A cough sounded. Minako chewed on her lip.  
“Okay.” The wind senshi finally said and settled against the tree. When it came to the Inners, the blonde ones in particular, it was a good rule of thumb to just let things go. Seriously, she had no idea what they were talking about most of the time anyway. Besides that, having gained the prize she wanted, Haruka was happy to ride her high for as long as possible. There was awkward silence for a few moments before a ‘Dead Scream’ boomed off to the right. It was answered instantly with a ‘Fire Soul’ and the twins sprang to their feet.

“Yeah!! Go Rei-chan!!” Usagi cheered and Minako pumped a fist.

“Bring honor back to the Inners!! Take her down!!” They broke out pom-poms and started a cheering squad dedicated to Rei and Makoto just sweat-dropped as the two attempted a pyramid.

“You really think Rei has a chance against Setsuna?” She asked and instantly Minako struck a pose, leaving Usagi in the dust. She flared and pointed a finger at her accusingly.

“Don’t doubt the power of a Inner.” Usagi lept up and struck an identical pose.

“That’s right. Support your fellow senshi.” Ami blinked.

“Setsuna’s a senshi too.” She muttered and Michiru gave Ami another secretive wink.

“And you should never underestimate a Scout with a goal, ne?” Ami blushed again and not for the first time Makoto wondered what she’d missed.

“That’s right! Rei-chan will come through for us!” Usagi produced a large sign covered in glitter that spelled out G-O R-E-I, and while Ami wondered when she’d had the time to make it, Minako produced one of equal glittery goodness that said A-N-T-I E-V-I-L. Makoto lifted an eyebrow at this.

“Setsuna-san’s evil now?” Minako nodded seriously.

“She’s an Outer.” Haruka sighed.

“And here I thought we were past all this distrust kittens.” Minako and Usagi actually stopped at this and looked at each other, lowering their signs slightly.

“So, you aren’t evil?” Usagi asked and Michiru just shook her head, a bemused smile on her face.

“So, you aren’t going to torture me?” Minako chanced, hope brewing deep. Haruka opened her mouth to respond, closed it, then opened it again.

“On second thought, go ahead and cheer.” Minako’s face fell and Usagi turned and immediately began to scream for Rei. Her sheer volume snapped Minako out of it.

Haruka watched with great amusement as the twins began their cheer again with even more enthusiasm and Ami shook her head. If only they had put a quarter of this energy into passing their high school exams, the genius wouldn’t be quite so worried about her early onset of gray hair.

As the sounds of battle faded, they all waited patiently….well, some of them waited patiently anyway, for the last team to appear. It didn’t take long and eventually low chatter could be heard as Rei and Setsuna walked calmly into the clearing. Rei let out a nearly frightened, mostly irritated, partially confused yelp when she was immediately glomped by her cheering squad. That much blonde energy at once….. Ami felt for the Priestess.

“Did you reclaim our honor Rei-chan!?” The Priestess blinked at Minako as she recovered from the attack.

“What?” Usagi grabbed her hands.

“Did you defeat the evil?” Rei looked over at the others for help and Ami only shook her head in response.

“What evil?” She bit and Minako huffed as if this should have been obvious.

“Setsuna of course.” That caught the raven off guard and she shot the senshi in question a bemused look.

“Setsuna’s evil?” The time senshi only shrugged her shoulders and Usagi sighed, as if also having to put up with Rei was a burden.

“She’s not actually evil. She represents evil.” She spoke as though the fire-wielder was slow and predictably, the air around the trio began to heat up. Rei narrowed her eyes and sarcasm dripped from her words.

“Really.” She stated and Minako nodded.

“Yes. The Outers.” Now Rei was really confused and irritated that she was so confused and Makoto held her head in her hands and sighed. She knew they were all Inners, but did they really have to be so…stereotypically Inner? 

“The Outers are evil.” Rei hissed and Minako rolled her eyes.

“They represent evil because they defeated the Inners. So you have to reclaim our honor.” Rei growled low and Ami spoke up before the flames could burst out and Rei could kill either blonde.

“Michiru and Haruka tagged out Usagi and Minako, and they want to know if you were able to tag Setsuna so the Inners would have at least one victory.” An ‘Oh, that’s it’ expression crossed the Priestess’s face and she gave a shrug, shooing away the embers that had started to grow.

“Nope. She got me.” Michiru looked over to her housemate. 

“Another twist.” Setsuna looked away in a classic ‘Don’t look at me, I‘m innocent’ Inner move , but before Makoto could figure out what that could possibly mean, the next world war broke out when Minako huffed and stepped back.

“Well if you can’t defeat an Outer and reclaim our honor what good are you?” Rei seethed and stepped forward.

“Who are you to talk about honor? You lost to an Outer too didn’t you?” Minako snorted.

“I lost to Haruka. That’s different. She wanted to me suffer. YOU should have risen to the challenge.” Rei’s hands glowed and Ami let out a breath.

“Here we go again.”

“I did rise to the challenge! She had to work to tag me!” In the background Setsuna nodded emphatically and rubbed a burn on her shoulder where a well placed Flame Sniper had nearly sent her running back into the forest.

“It doesn’t matter! She still got you!” Rei puffed with indignation, because that was what Rei did when confronted with the force that was Minako, and went on the offensive. 

“ At least I put up a fight! I bet you just ran like a little baby!!!” Minako colored because it was true and fired back.

“You would have run too if she were after you! You should have defeated the odds!!” Usagi nodded thoughtfully.

“Yeah. Even Ami was able to beat Mako-chan.” At that, Rei actually deflated and looked over at the group.

“Really? SHE got YOU?” Before Makoto even had the chance to think about speaking Ami shot up and surprised the hell out of everyone for the second time that day.

“Yes!!! Kami yes I got HER!! Okay? I know, everyone thought that little Ami was just waiting to be tagged out but no!! YOU all lost and I tagged HER out, okay!?” She was huffing a little after her explosion and Makoto just about swooned. Angry Ami was quickly added to her mental list of favorite Ami’s. It was by now an incredibly long list and she was often tempted to dork out and actually write them down, if only so she wouldn’t forget any.

“You tell ‘em.” Haruka added helpfully, and, realizing just how shocked everyone was, Ami naturally flushed bright red and sat back down quickly, holding her hands in her lap. A few crickets chirped again and Rei coughed quietly.

“Right. Well, good job then.” Minako just giggled. Setsuna smirked and decided to break the awkward and allow Ami the chance to breathe regularly.

“Well, it appears that today was a success then.” Minako beamed and flipped her hair.

“Well of course it was. I can’t believe you all doubted me.” Still irritated, Rei snorted as she walked past.

“Let’s see how proud you are when Haruka calls in her favor.” Fear struck and a shiver of ice (Ami would later claim innocence) ran down the Love senshi’s back as the racer chuckled low in her throat.

“Yes, speaking of that…” Minako whimpered and spun in place, a nervous giggle coming out.

“Um, yes?” Haruka gave an evil grin and Makoto thanked her lucky stars that she’d passed out before the whole ‘make-over’ incident had taken place.

“I think, you should come over Saturday.” Minako blinked.

“Why Saturday?” The racer leaned back happily. 

“Because I don’t want school to get in the way.” Ami raised an eyebrow.

“In the way of what?” Minako asked hesitantly.

“In the way of my day of fun.” The blondes gulp was audible then and Rei said a prayer for the condemned girl.

“Day of fun?” She whimpered and Haruka hummed happily.

“Yes. I think if you show up at, oh, say nine am? That should give me pleeeenty of time before midnight.” Minako quivered and Usagi cocked her head.

“Time for what?” The Inners all collectively held their breath as Haruka beamed back at the doomed Love Goddess.

“Payback.” She said simply and Minako melted into a puddle. The Princess snickered.

“Wow Mina-chan. A whole day of suffering, AND you have to get up by 9 on a Saturday. How bad to be you.” She giggled at the look on her twins face until Michiru cleared her throat.

“Actually Usagi-san, I think if you were there at nine as well, it work out wonderfully.” The Princess whipped her head around in surprise.

“What?” She squeaked and Rei had to bite her lip to keep from laughing at the look on her face. Michiru only shrugged a shoulder.

“It’s only fair I suppose.” As Usagi melted down with her twin and they proclaimed their loyalty to each other in this time of dire suffering, Rei looked hesitantly over to the third Outer.

“Let me guess. Nine am on Saturday?” Setsuna only shook her head.

“I haven’t decided yet.” Rei shrugged in response and Minako began to groan about the injustice of it all. Makoto glanced over at Rei with a smile.

“I guess you and I are in the same boat then ne? No idea what’s coming up?” Minako snorted from her spot on the ground.

“Exactly what are YOU afraid of Makoto-chan? What’s she gonna do? Ask you to do a science experiment with her?” Makoto began to retort as Ami’s frustrated, thoughtful expression perked up.

“Actually,” she began and Makoto turned slowly to face the bluenette. The smaller girl shuffled her foot on the ground for a moment before clearing her throat and pressing on. “That sounds like a great idea.” Makoto felt her heart fall a little bit and sighed.

“It does?” Gaining confidence as she spoke, Ami nodded and made eye-contact.

“I do have an, uh, experiment in mind. You’d be perfect to help me with it. I mean, if you don’t mind of course.” She finished off with a blush and Makoto sighed again. So much for her fantasy of Ami whisking her away romantically. Still, she supposed this meant she’d at least be spending time with her little genius, even if would be spent looking down a microscope or whatever. She pushed out a smile.

“It’s your favor Ami-chan. If that’s what you want, of course I’m in.” Ami blushed and nodded to herself.

“Yes, that’s….what I want.” Makoto, still lost in Ami’s eyes, didn’t notice the knowing smirk on Michiru’s face and the soft moment was only broken by another groan from the prostrate blonde.

“Sooo not fair! Kami, at least make her give up her Saturday too!” Makoto bit her cheek and Ami shrugged.

“Saturday would work best.” At the beginning of the pout on Makoto’s face she added hastily. “ But nine am isn’t necessary. Maybe more toward afternoon? Around three or four?” The whining on the ground rose in volume but Makoto gave an easy smile.

“Sure Ami-chan. I‘m all yours.” Oddly, both Setsuna and Michiru let out soft giggles at this statement and Ami flushed a brilliant shade. Makoto was more than confused and even Haruka looked lost, leaning in to whisper in her girlfriend’s ear.

“What’s all that about?” She asked and Michiru just shook her head, patting her lover on the shoulder.

“Nothing at all to worry about.” Rei just rolled her eyes and retrieved her pack.

“Well, I say we should head back. I need to be home in time for final rites at the Shrine.” Everyone muttered and with great effort, Usagi and Minako lifted from the dirt to gather their bags. Ami smiled at Makoto before heading over to speak to Rei and Setsuna joined the Outers as the group began the trek out of the woods. 

Suddenly aware of a presence, Makoto looked over to see a smirking Minako leaning in close. All traces of her previous misery were gone. Makoto arched an eyebrow as Minako glanced about secretly and withdrew the infamous doujin from her bag.

“Here. Take care of it and enjoy ne?” Makoto sputtered in disbelief and shoved the offending paperwork in her bag, hastily looking around to make sure no one had seen.

“Are you crazy? Kami, what if Rei saw? What if Ami saw?” Makoto felt her heart stop at the idea of her little innocent Ami catching her with the damned thing. Minako rolled her eyes at the panic attack and adjusted her bag on her shoulder.

“If Rei saw there’d be no saving you. If Ami saw, well, then maaaaybe she’d finally be aware of your feelings and you could move this whole thing along. I mean you do have date Saturday night right? It’d be much more interesting this way don’t you think?” Makoto groaned and slapped a hand over her eyes.

“What’s going on in that head of yours? That Ami will just be, ‘Oh? You want to read a doujin of us doing naughty things to each other? In that case I dare you to do them all to me?’” Minako grinned.

“Great thought isn’t it?” Makoto nearly halted in her steps as the idea of Ami asking that of her ran through her mind and it was only a quiet cough that tore her away from the fantastic fantasy.

“Everything okay?” Ami asked as she and Rei walked up to them. Minako immediately struck an innocent pose and clasped her hands behind her back, pulling off the Innocent Inner look much more suspiciously than Setsuna had, even whistling as she looked away from Makoto. Makoto flustered and stuttered.

“Ah, yeah. I mean, no. No, I, yeah. Everything’s good.” She coughed to hide her blush and Rei squinted her eyes at them.

“Really now.” Minako glomped onto Rei’s arm with a burst of energy.

“We were just wondering what dirty thing Setsuna-san is going to ask of you.” The distraction worked and Rei turned a bright shade.

“W..what?” Minako shrugged innocently, steering the Priestess away from Ami and Makoto.

“Well, she does live with Haruka and Michiru. SOME of the ecchi had to infect her, don’t you think?” As the sounds of Rei trying in vain to disprove Minako’s theory faded out, Makoto chuckled and put a hand behind her head.

“Looks like I’m the only one who doesn’t have to worry about having a hentai kinda week huh?” Instead of the bright blush she was expecting, Ami just looked off distantly.

“Hmm.” She hummed in response and turned to follow the group, a confused Makoto trailing behind.


End file.
